Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The 2008 NFL draft is completed and here are five questions about the event. We had no first round pick because of the Jared Allen trade and we haven't touched on that trade. What do you guys think of the Jared Allen deal?

Dogg: The Jared Allen trade was phenomenal. We gave up our 17th overall pick, expecting to take a DE who probably shouldn't have been taken that early in Phillip Merling. Any DE that we took in the first round was going to be a 50/50 success but with Jared Allen we got a top 5 DE. 3rd round picks mean nothing to me so this deal was Jared Allen for the 17th overall pick which is an absolute steal. I believe we will have the top defensive line in the league this year.

Q: I wasn't entirely sure about it at first. A first rounder, two thirds, and $74 million? That's a lot no matter who you are. But the more I thought about it (and drank the Vikings Kool-Aid that Dogg is brewing), the more I liked the move. I'll take the NFL's sack leader over three questionable draft picks any day. He's going to make the entire defense better and especially help our pass defense, where we've struggled for the past few seasons. Plus, it's not very often that you get a chance to get an impact player entering the prime of his career. Especially not in Minnesota, where we're usually the ones shipping people out at about that time (see Santana, Johan). He instantly gives us a top 3 defense in the league and could be the difference maker in whether or not we make the playoffs.

Fuzz: I like it. Two things aren’t guaranteed: 1) Draft Picks 2) Jared Allen laying off the sauce. Have you seen this guy? He looks like the spokesperson for Natty Ice. Anyways, on one end you’re giving up draft picks that haven’t proved shit in the league to get a guy that led the league in sacks last year. Then on the other end, you’re getting a guy that’s a cocktail away from a year suspension (copyright my brother). Both are risks. However, I like it from the standpoint that we’re making a run. Whatever is sparking this new attitude is great to see. Whether it’s Childress on the hot seat, ownership getting antsy or an organization thinking they are close to the Superbowl--I love the “go for it now” thinking. Our sports organizations ALWAYS build, build, and build for the future. Like Q said, we give up all-stars for future building almost every year it seems like. It’s a good change seeing them say the hell with it, let’s roll. My thoughts on if this philosophy will work--- We’re Comin!!

Is John David Booty going to push T-Jack? Why? Why not?

Q: The only thing JDB will be pushing this year is a pencil to the clipboard he's holding (sorry, lame joke). I don't think there is any chance that he sees the field this year. We are going to sink or swim with Jackson. If he leads us to the promised land, awesome. If not, Chilly might be on his way out since this is his boy. Even if Tarvaris gets hurt, we signed Gus "Head Banger" Ferotte as a backup, and since he's played in the league for quite some time now, he'd easily get the nod over Booty. That said, if T Jack struggles again this year (as everyone expects that he will), there could and should be some serious Booty talk (that sounds dirty) heading into the 2009 season.

Dogg: JDB will not push T-Jack this year. I'm a firm believer that T-Jack will progress this season and lead us deep into the playoffs if not the Super Bowl. Stay consistent and take sacks if you have to without throwing ill-advised picks. Hand off right, hand off left, dink and dunk to the middle and play action deep will be the only plays he has to deal with. JDBis from USC which I love but there is no defense in the Pac-10 so JDB hasn't seen crap on defense yet. I think he might be good one day but T-Jack will lead us this year.

Fuzz: First off, if you guys want some of that purple drink that Dogg is whipping up; he’ll be sitting at a corner this weekend in the south metro serving that stuff up next to the Lemonade stand occupied by the five year olds. T-Jack will lead us to the SuperBowl this year possibly? Wow. I really hope so, but I’m not convinced yet that jump thrower T-Jack is the answer. This is why I love the Booty pick. He did slip to the 5th round but late round quarterbacks in this league have panned out before. Why? Because they are in the right system. JDB is a system quarterback and he might have just walked into a perfect storm. An accurate and smart passer fits the West Coast O perfectly. He’s going to have a learning curve like any other young QB, but he has a chance to be our starter at some point. However, I don’t think it’s this year so have fun holding the clipboard like Q mentioned.

Which team had the best draft? Also, what was the best pick?

Q: For me (copyright Randy Jackson) there were two teams that stood out. The first, which you're probably going to read about in every draft analysis article out there, is the Kansas City Chiefs. I know it's pretty easy to say they had a good draft since they picked twice in the first 17 picks and had something like 13 picks overall, but I liked what they did. Dorsey and Albert are pretty much the highest rated D and O linemen, respectively, in the draft (other than Jake Long, of course). Adding those two will help that team out a lot immediately. It won't make them a good team, but it's a major step in the right direction. The other team I liked was the Washington Redskins. Clearly they felt like their offense needed a boost, so they went out and got WR's Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, TE Fred Davis, OG Chad Rinehart, and QB Colt Brennan. Maybe they won't be any good, but they are all names that I know, so that puts them high on my chart.

Fuzz: You have to like what the Dolphins did. I know they had the 1st overall pick, but I liked their first three picks a lot. Jake Long will be one of those dominant left tackles in this league. Tackles that are drafted that high always pan out. Then they went with DE Phillip Merling with their 2nd pick and he was projected in a lot of people’s first round, if that means anything. With their 3rd pick they drafted Chad Henne to compete for the starting quarterback this year. All three probably will be starters this year so I like their draft the best based on this. As for my best pick in the draft, I’ll go with receiver Devin Thomas with the 3rd pick (34th overall) in the 2nd round to the Skins. Todd McGay from ESPN had Thomas going 11th overall to the Bills so having slip in the second round has the Skins with the best pick in the draft.

Dogg: I was drinking beer and watching the NBA playoffs during the NFL draft so I don't have an accurate assessment. Vikings didn't have picks because of the Allen trade so I wasn't real intrigued with this year's draft. I do know Limas Sweed got taken by Pittsburgh in the 2nd round which was a great pick.

I know it's early, but give me your Defensive and Offensive rookie of the years?

Dogg: Offensive ROY will be Darren McFadden. He will step in immediately and run/catch the ball with great success. Defensive ROY will be Derrick Harvey. He steps into an already great defense (Jags) and will not draw a lot of attention giving him the edge often throughout the year.

Q: That's easy: Offensive Rookie of the Year will definitely be Darren McFadden since he's the only impact skill position player that should contribute right away. Defensive Rookie of the Year is a lot harder, and for now I'll go with Derrick Harvey since he's joining an already stellar D in Jacksonville and thus should have the most amount of opportunities to make plays.

Fuzz: I swear to you that those two fellas wrote their responses separately. Well, I’m obviously going to go a different route to save the question. Only three quarterbacks have won the award, but I’m still going to go with Matt Ryan with the Falcons for my offensive rookie of the year. He’s clearly going to be the guy there since Joey Harrington is awful. He’s going to get every opportunity to win the award and with a weak playmaker class, he has a legitimate shot. Seven of the last eight defensive rookie of the years have been linebackers and the streak continues here ladies with Jerod Mayo from the Patriots winning the award. He was the 10th overall player taken and is going to step in and replace Junior Seau immediately on an 18-1 team. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win this award.

Give me a rant/analysis/thoughts about something that happened on draft day.

Fuzz: A couple ridiculous things happened during the draft. 1) I had a draft party. The draft is so big that we threw a frickin party for it and a bunch of people came over! Ridics. 2) A few of the fellas took bets on every pick of round 1 & 2. It was like a sportsbook in Vegas with the feel of Wallstreet at the house. It was one of the craziest scenes I’ve seen. Guys writing down their bets, taking 3-1, 4-1, even 10-1 odds on certain players going in a certain position, and taking offense/defense bets on the picks. There was even talk of betting if the next player was going to be black or white. It was truly insane but it made for a really fun/interesting day.

Q: This was the most boring draft I have ever been a part of. Normally I'm pretty fixated with most of the first round and even beyond that. This year, I couldn't have cared less. Maybe it was because the first few picks were pretty much dead set before it started. Maybe it's because the Vikes didn't have a pick. Maybe it's because I paid less attention to college football this past year than I have in previous years. Most likely, it was a combination of all of them, but the bottom line is that I was not into this draft at all, and had much more fun watching the NBA playoff games and the Twins game.

Dogg: Mel Kiper is ridiculous. He sits there all day knowing every player taken with strengths and weaknesses. I know it's his job but he does it with ease. He had half of the ESPN crew looking at their magazines when mentioning half the players because they didn't know who Mel was talking about. Mel knows half of the kids' parent's names, where they live, brothers, sisters, etc. It's gotten insane how much he knows about college football players.